The Travis County Commissioners Court unanimously approved two motions to change parts of the County Code this week. Caitlin Brown, policy director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, asked last week to amend parts of the Drug and Alcohol Policy to encourage, rather than discipline, employees seeking help for substance abuse through the HR department. The code did not previously differentiate from on-the job policy violations and those seeking help without violating the policy during working hours. The code will now allow employees to self-disclose without any disciplinary action. The court also approved revising the code to include a Catastrophic Sick Leave Policy. Employees can opt-in to donate hours into an annual pool and get extra paid time-off hours, after they use all of their sick leave hours, in case of injury or illness. Once hours are donated to the pool, they are not returned to the employee.

A story in Thursday’s edition incorrectly state the numbers of new sanitarian positions the Health and Human Services Department plans to hire in 2015. The agency plans to hire eight new sanitarians for restaurant inspections.

Austin 311 has a new Smartphone App. The app allows residents and visitors the opportunity to connect with the city. Some requests available on the app are Graffiti Removal, Pothole Repair, Sidewalk Repair and Waste Water Report. Residents will be able to select from a list of service requests, take a picture, add a location and submit from their mobile devices. This app allows residents to become more engaged in their community and provides the opportunity for increased efficiency within the city. Residents can get the app in the iTunes store or Google Play under the name “City of Austin Texas.” They can also download the app.

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department will hold the third community meeting for the Cemetery Master Plan process Aug. 23. This will be the third of five community meetings to be held as part of the planning effort for the City’s five historic municipal cemeteries, which include Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery, Oakwood Cemetery, Oakwood Cemetery Annex and Plummers Cemetery. The meeting will present the project team’s assessment of the conditions of natural and human-made features found in the five historic city-owned cemeteries. The team will also share examples of heritage and cultural programming in other cemeteries around the United States and receive input from the public. The city selected AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. to develop the master plan, which will take a year to complete. The master plan will include recommendations related to historic preservation, tree care and cemetery management issues. The meeting is set from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Austin Public Library Ruiz Branch, 1600 Grove Boulevard. For more information, click here.

The Network of Asian American Organizations PAC seems to be the first group to issue endorsements, with Capital Tejano Democrats not far behind. The Asian American PAC endorsed Steve Adler for Mayor and released the following statement: “We greatly appreciate the service of Mayor Pro Tem Cole and Council Member Martinez; however, we feel that changing to the new 10-1 system of council representation brings a historic opportunity for new leadership and a fresh perspective. Steve Adler will bring the effective leadership style he’s demonstrated through his community service.” The group also endorsed Fred McGhee in District 3; Greg Casar in District 4; Ann Kitchen in District 5; Eliza May in District 8 and Kathie Tovo in District 9 . . . The Capital Tejano Democrats met with candidates for Mayor, and District 2 City Council Saturday. According to CTD President Yolanda Riojas Pedraza, the group voted to endorse Mike Martinez for Mayor and Delia Garza for District 2. Riojas Pedraza said, “It was very clear to our members that Mike was the most experienced and had the best perspective needed to handle this very important job.”

The Austin City Council meets in a Budget Work Session at 9:30 a.m. at Town Lake Center, 721 Barton Springs Road.

Longtime Republican stalwart Don Zimmerman said Tuesday he made the decision to put his name on the list for City Council District 6 because he had been disappointed by the lack of some wealthy Republican who would be able to buy the job. Asked if the reason might be because being on the City Council is not such a great job, Zimmerman replied, “It’s a terrible job but Marsha Farney ponied up a quarter of a million dollars” to fund her successful campaign for the State Board of Education. And that’s a really terrible job, he opined. Farney is now a State Representative from Georgetown. So, lacking a candidate he liked, Zimmerman said he would take on the task himself. As for his platform, Zimmerman offered the following: “We believe it is outrageous that Austin city government has promoted staggering increases in debt and taxes to subsidize wealthy mega-businesses like Apple, and the wealthiest university in the nation (University of Texas) with their property-tax-subsidized medical school, on the backs of renters, homeowners and small businesses.” He added that he intends “to expose the misinformation of the ‘urban rail’ campaign which would waste over a billion dollars and do virtually nothing to relieve traffic congestion.”

Mayoral candidate Mike Martinez sparred with a much lesser known opponent, Todd Phelps, Tuesday before members of the city’s hospitality industry as well as other downtown business people and residents. Phelps essentially accused Martinez of single-handedly preventing ridesharing services from operating in Austin. Martinez did not take that credit but said he believes that such services are not currently safe. Phelps argued that the companies, Uber and Lyft in particular, would police their own drivers and that the public would be safe. Sometime this fall, the city manager is expected to bring a proposal back to Council on how to deal with such services. Martinez said the companies had agreed to the plan but then backed out. Their remarks were part of a forum Tuesday by the Austin Hotel & Lodging Association, the Austin Restaurant Association and the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association. How to deal with Austin’s transportation problems was just one of eight questions posed to candidates Sheryl Cole, Steve Adler, Martinez and Phelps by James Walsh, president of the lodging association.

Seton Healthcare has named Christann Vasquez as the first president of the Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas. She will begin in August. The medical school is already under construction and scheduled to open in 2016. Most recently, Vasquez was been the executive vice president and chief operating officer of University Health System in San Antonio. In that role, she was responsible for operations for the University Hospital, Texas Diabetes Institute, Community Medicine Associates as well as 16 outpatient facilities and clinics, among other duties. Vasquez was also CEO of the Houston-area Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and chief financial officer for Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services.

The Austin Police Department unveiled memorial markers for officers John Gaines and Tom Allen Tuesday as part of the Austin Police Officer Memorial Project. Officer John Gaines, the only African-American officer on the Austin police force at the time, was shot by George Booth, a deputy constable involved in a disturbance, at Sixth and Trinity streets Nov. 19, 1913. Booth shot Gaines while the officer was on the telephone summoning help from the police station. At that time, African-American officers were not allowed to arrest whites. Officer Tom Allen, Austin’s only African-American police officer since the death of Gaines two years earlier, was shot and killed at Jennings’ drugstore on East Sixth Street. The shooting followed an argument between Allen and the editor of a San Antonio-based black newspaper. The memorials were dedicated Tuesday and will remain at the corner of Sixth and Trinity streets.

Austin residents and businesses now can bring used or damaged electronics to the City of Austin’s Resource Recovery Center for recycling at no cost. Through a recycling processing contract with Dallas-company ECS Refining, the Resource Recovery Center now accepts most consumer electronics, including TVs, computers, mobile devices, printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, video consoles and digital cameras. In addition, the center also accepts appliances such as air conditioners, water heaters, dryers, stoves, refrigerators, microwaves and all types of metals. The Resource Recovery Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 3810 Todd Lane.

The Austin Water Public Information Meeting on policy changes for line installations is set for 6 p.m. at Waller Creek Plaza, 625 East 10th Street.